Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Writing)

School

School of Communication and Arts

Faculty

Faculty of Education and Arts

First Supervisor

Dr Marcella Polain

Second Supervisor

Rod Giblett

Abstract

This thesis consists of a creative component, a novel, Death’s laughter and an exegetical essay, Crafting a novel. The novel centres on a true Nigerian story: a Pentecostal pastor, who died in a plane crash, was a government official found out to have amassed large sums of money and assets that were far greater than could be accrued from his modest salary. In addition, he was accused of bigamy because he had two wives who did not know each other in two different cities within the country. This basic story serves as the nucleus of the novel. The novel tells the stories of various characters who were created with the intention of telling their own stories and, in doing this, giving the readers a montage of the pastor who was passive but ever present in the novel. Though the pastor dies in Chapter One of the novel, each character -- who is related or has a relationship with the pastor -- tells their own stories and together builds a picture of what happened to the pastor and the kind of person he was. Pastor Jude Akanmu Babajide in the novel represents the Pastor Femi Àkànní, who was the character in the true Nigerian story. This novel does not paint a picture based on the research into the Nigerian pastor, it creates a fictional account of the pastor and of the various characters who populated the novel. As the reader goes through the various tales he/she is given an insight into Nigerian society and an introduction to some Yoruba cultural concepts.

Download

Share

 
COinS